


A Kind Man

by howldax



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howldax/pseuds/howldax
Summary: First impressions aren't always the most accurate.





	A Kind Man

**Author's Note:**

> posting from my phone so sorry for any formatting issues! will fix them on my laptop later, just wanted Philip to get the tender care he deserves 😤

If Philip had been asked if Evan was a kind man when he first met him, the answer would have been no.

Philip's transition to the Entity's realm was not an easy one, and he struggled to fulfil his purpose. The Entity, forgiving his inexperience, had allowed him to watch some of Evan's trials before Philip even knew Evan had a name other than Trapper. He had been utterly without mercy, placing traps where he knew they would not be expected and embedding his blade into the survivors he hunted without hesitation. He was like a machine, remorseless and unstoppable.

Philip, despite his new position as a fellow killer, was afraid of that brutality, that calculated malice. That gruesome, bone-white mask, filled with tiny sharp teeth like a shark.

The first time they truly met, face to face, the Trapper looked him up and down and said, "Scrawny one, aren't you?"

Philip said nothing, and the Trapper snorted. "Quiet, too," he'd said. "I like you already. Name's Evan. Do the work or you'll regret it, alright?"

At the time, Philip thought that was a threat. It wasn't until he didn't manage to catch a single survivor that he understood Evan was warning him of the Entity's wrath rather than his own. In the aftermath, Philip sobbing with the pain of his wounds, Evan wrapped each one carefully with gauze taken from the medkit of a hooked survivor.

"You gotta do better than this," Evan said, his right palm warm on the unmarked ball of Philip's left shoulder. "It don't take kindly to failure. You have to just do what it tells you, and do it as best you can. You understand?"

Philip understood in that moment why Evan was so ruthless in trials; not because it was something he enjoyed, but because he knew the consequences of mercy, and his determination to do what was necessary outweighed any pity for the people they hunted. He nodded, and Evan seemed satisfied, standing with a final pat to Philip's shoulder.

The wounds healed, eventually. For many trials Philip had to run through the pain, crying out when pallets were thrown down and splintered against the exposed flesh, feeling the burn of flashlights more intensely than before. And after each trial Evan was there, silent and protective, to pick the splinters from his skin and let Philip rest his weary head on Evan's scarred shoulder. Evan's wounds seemed heavier, only ever semi-healed, thick ropes of scar tissue still leaking blood when he moved too fast, but he never complained. Just honed his bear traps, smearing them with ointments and painstakingly sharpening their teeth, and went into trials with that same quiet ruthlessness Philip had seen those first few times. It seemed less threatening from his position, now that he understood its origin.

Philip learned that sometimes, Evan was kind. When the Hillbilly joined them, twisted and yet childish, Evan tolerated his clumsy attempts at rough-housing even when he was obviously much too tired for play. When Philip only managed a single sacrifice, and he felt the Entity's heavy presence watching, disapproving, Evan sat beside him as he waited for its judgement. When the Huntress appeared, her hum soothing and her mask not, Evan shared some of the concoctions he had invented for his bear traps so that she could use them on her axe, and carved her a little rabbit out of wood when she lost a trial and came back bloody.

And of course, he and Philip had grown closer when it was just the two of them. Evan had been there through every trial, every punishment, every time the Entity's false rage seeped from Philip's bones and left him shaky and tearful. In turn, when Evan had a bad trial and came back to their camp frustrated and angry Philip sat with him and stroked long fingers over his uneven scalp until Evan was calm under his fingertips.

It took what felt like months for Evan to show Philip his face. Philip had begun to wonder if Evan was even able to remove the grinning mask when he turned around one day and saw it on the ground at Evan's side, firelight flickering over its maw. He stared for a moment at the back of Evan's head, wondering if it was truly okay for him to see, and then realised that if Evan didn't want him to see then he wouldn't have removed the mask in the first place. Philip padded over and sat beside him, looking at the fire as he built his courage.

Evan's hand moved, uncharacteristically hesitant, to lay over Philip's own. He felt his heartbeat ramp up, and chanced a glance to the side.

Evan was looking directly at him, face carefully devoid of expression. Philip took a moment to just look at him. Evan's face was broad, just like the man himself, and a scar bisected his lips and ran across his cheekbone. His eyes were a plain sort of light brown, muddy and unremarkable other than for the intensity of their gaze, and his nose was crooked as though he'd broken it once. Philip looked at his strong jawline and thick lips and thought him rather handsome, in his own straightforward sort of way. It suited him.

Evan must have caught some of that approval in Philip's body language or facial expression, because his lips stretched into a small smile, oddly tender. Philip thanked his toughened skin for being unable to hold a blush.

"Like what you see?" Evan said, and Philip wanted to deny that he was being flirted with, but it certainly seemed that way. He broke eye contact.

"Do you?" he asked in return, glancing up in time to see Evan's lips spread into a true smile, showing his teeth.

"I do," he said.

"I do as well," Philip said, smiling back at him, and when Evan leaned closer he pushed forward, his long torso effortlessly bridging the gap between them. Evan's lips were dry and rough against his, and Philip was certain that his must feel the same, but couldn't bring himself to care. The taste of blood lingering around Evan's lips wasn't pleasant, but when his mouth opened and Philip felt the warmth of his breath it suddenly didn't matter anymore.

Evan reached a hand around to cradle Philip's skull, his other cupping his cheek and stroking a thumb along the ridges there. Philip, finding himself oddly nervous, rested his hands gently on the straps of Evan's overalls, not quite daring to touch his skin. Evan pulled away a little.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time," he said. "Didn't know if you felt the same."

"It took me a long time to know if I did, also," Philip said, smiling, and leaned forward to kiss him again.


End file.
